Games and the media.

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As it's probably pretty clear, I am big on games, I love all kinds of games from the tame Sonic The Hedgehog and Pokemon to the violent games such as Resident Evil and Grand Theft Auto.

I play games for fun and have played from a young age, I reckon from about 5 years old. At 10/11 I was playing Resident Evil even though it was rated 15 and Grand Theft Auto when it first came out which was rated an 18.

Now the violent games are often in the media an are given what I feel a bad reputation because some lunatic played Grand Theft Auto a lot then went out on a killing spree for example. It has to be down to the game right? I often read it's the influence of the game that a person has played, but like I say, I have played a varied genre of games and I have not had any ideas of rampaging with a knife because I did it in a game. I like that I can immense myself in these games, do things I never would dream of doing in reality.

But that's just it, some people can't tell reality apart from a gaming world. My younger brother who has Asperger's started playing my other brother's Canis Canem Edit game (AKA Bully), between us we called it Bully so my mother assumed that was the actual name of the game. He wasn't able to determine why my mum didn't like the way he was laughing so much at punching somebody in the face, it got to the point where he was banned from the game and my brother and myself couldn't play it around him. She hated the game because of it's realism, but didn't mind us playing Grand Theft Auto because we were mature and aware enough that this is a game.

Years down the line, because as I mentioned above that she didn't know what the actual game was called, he had tricked her in buying the game for him again. She soon realised what the game was and again ended up taking the game from him because his behaviour was appalling after playing it.

So, it's clear people perceive things in different ways, but as much as parents want to pass the buck with things like this, they are quite uneducated with video games. But my view is they should read in to games instead of being pressured into buying it there and then. It's not hard to ask at the counter what the game is about. Age ratings are there but I don't think it's an age issue, I think it's down to how each person is. The parent should gauge if their child is responsible enough to be able to play it, the parent should do the research into the game instead of coming out and saying "I didn't know what they were playing".

So this is my view on this matter, what about you? Is it down to games to keep their content less violent or less realistic, or is it down to parents to decide if a game is appropriate for their kid, regardless of age?

I was kind of expecting this to be about the whole "gamergate" (hate that name) fiasco. Oh well.

I feel like this article is more about violence in games than games in the media, though I suppose it's only the violent and controversial games which get mainstream media attention, for the most part. I don't understand how she was OK with GTA but not Bully. Bully was a silly game where nobody died and the most sexual thing in it being holding a girls hand, compared with GTA where you can get virtually laid and murder the virtual innocent. I suspect she was exaggerating or imagining his behaviour playing up, like how parents do when their kids have sugar. That, or his behaviour was bad anyway and she associated it with the game. There's no proven link between violence in games and violence in reality, despite how the media tries to spin it like how they claimed some school shooter "trained" with MW2. MW2 is hardly the worlds most accurate simulator, so how anyone could train with it is beyond me. And, if like parents and mainstream media claim, violent games make people violent, then why doesn't fighting games make me a pro at martial arts or a racing games make me a good driver?

To answer the question, it's down to the parents to choose what to buy their kid. Games should appeal to everyone, which means some people like violence. Rather than complain about the violent games and how they should be less violent, they should just go buy more family friendly games for their kids.

I would agree. Definitely comes down to the parents. Are you really going to go buy a game that is Rated R for such as this, and then allow your child to play it?!

Some things in the parent's brains just don't seem to line up these days...